E.P.A. Meeting Stalled by Security and Cost

[SecularMotion]

Source: NY Times

The Environmental Protection Agency has been on something of a listening tour lately, holding public meetings around the country where stakeholders concerned about hydraulic fracturing can share their thoughts with the agency.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is an increasingly contentious practice in which drilling companies blast a cocktail of sand, water and chemicals deep underground to break up rock formations and release hard-to-reach oil and gas deposits.

It’s an issue of particular interest in states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, where huge deposits of previously unreachable natural gas now have drillers and many residents seeing dollar signs. Other residents, and plenty of environmental groups, see something else — principally the threat of wanton pollution and groundwater contamination.

Read more: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/e-p-a-meeting-stalled-by-security-and-cost/?hp

[Dr.Phool]

1. My dad owns a couple of gas wells in West Virginia.

After he got his parents land, that he grew up on. About 10 years ago, he noticed a well on the other side of the mountain, and asked the Cabot Oil guy if they would be interested in drilling on his side. They said sure, and he now has two producing wells.

He's 82 years old. He was over for lunch a couple of weeks ago, and I had "Gasland" tivo'ed, and he about shit when he saw it. He said, How come I never hear about this stuff?